After the Headlines: Sabo steps back, Snyder moves up

After more than 43 years in the fire service, John Sabo is stepping back. He retires Jan. 6 after 18 years as Plain Township’s second fire chief.

Edd Pritchard

This is another in a series following up on stories that made headlines during 2011. We reported in a Sept. 28 story that John Sabo was stepping down as the Plain Township fire chief. On Thursday, Don Snyder was sworn in as the new chief.

It’s hard to describe the feeling when the call comes in and it’s time to respond, said John Sabo.

There’s an adrenaline rush. You realize that someone needs your help. You’re confronted with a situation that might be dangerous. You have to make quick decisions. Those decisions can affect someone’s life.

“You just have a desire to be a person put in that spot,” Sabo said.

That desire has burned in Sabo since he was a kid. When he had the chance in 1968 — still a senior at Oakwood High School — he signed on to be a volunteer firefighter. Eleven years later in 1979, Sabo opted to walk away from a full-time job as a journeyman tool and die maker for Hoover Co. to become one of Plain Township’s first full-time paramedics.

After more than 43 years in the fire service, Sabo is stepping back. He retires Jan. 6 after 18 years as Plain Township’s second fire chief.

Stepping into the job as the township’s third chief will be Don Snyder, who, with Sabo, was one of the township’s first full-time firefighter paramedics.

Don Snyder moves into the job his father, Clarence Snyder, held from 1976 to 1993. Sabo had replaced Clarence Snyder as fire chief.

PASSION FOR THE JOB

For Don Snyder, being a firefighter was in his blood. He was 10 years old and tagging along when his father went to fire training classes. He liked watching his father help others and give to the community.

In 1974 after graduating high school, Don Snyder joined Pleasant View’s Volunteer Fire Department. Sabo already was a member.

“We had a passion for the job and we knew we were doing what we wanted to do,” Snyder said about the early interest he and Sabo had for the fire department.

Sabo recalls some scary moments as a firefighter and paramedic.

He fell through a floor and found himself in the basement of a burning house. Someone got a hose down to him and he managed to climb out uninjured.

Then there was an emergency squad call. Sabo knew it was a domestic dispute, but he was expecting to help someone. When he knocked on the door, it was answered by a man holding a 9mm hand gun. Sabo’s hands were filled with gear. All he could do was back up and urge the man to calm down. “It was scary,” he said.

But those harrowing situations didn’t have Sabo questioning his career choice.

“When you feel (the adrenaline rush) once or twice, you find out quickly if you want to do that for the rest of your life, or if you want no part of it. And I’ve seen both types of people,” Sabo said.

A NEW DEPARTMENT

When Sabo and Snyder joined the fire service, Plain Township had four private volunteer departments based in different regions: Pleasant View, Edgefield, Avondale and Middlebranch.

Clarence Snyder served as chief for Pleasant View, and trustees recruited him to organize the four departments under one banner before naming him the township’s fire chief.

The four private fire departments operated in a similar fashion to Plain’s current department. All would respond on a call and provide mutual aid. These days, Plain firefighters are getting assistance from neighboring township and city departments when a call goes out.

Plain united the four departments in order to provide paramedic service to the township, Sabo said. The department provided two paramedics per shift. “It just grew from there,” he said.

Plain now has 39 full-time firefighters. Seven “paid-on-call” firefighters are the department’s tie to the old volunteer system.

LOOKING TO FUTURE

Although he’ll be retired, Sabo expects he still will be busy. There will be more time for his family and reading with his grandchildren. But Sabo hopes to continue working with Stark State University’s fire training program.

“We had some pretty good teachers along the way,” Sabo said. He hopes to imitate his teachers by training future firefighters.

Through the years Sabo and Don Snyder have seen plenty of changes because of advancements in technology. Equipment used to help patients on medical calls is more advanced, as are tools used to battle fires.

Safety equipment worn by firefighters is more advanced. Gear costs $2,000 per firefighter and must be tested annually. Faulty equipment is replaced.

Snyder said he was fortunate to have worked for so many years with Sabo. That included several months of transition time where the pair worked together.

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